


Strike Team Delta: Some (Usually A lot) Assembly Required

by Hclxs



Series: Out of the dark into the light [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awesome Laura Barton, Child Soldiers, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Clint Barton Made a Different Call, Clint Barton's Farm, Dark Past, Deaf Clint Barton, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Kid Natasha Romanov, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Natasha Romanov Joins SHIELD, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Rape/Non-con, Pop Culture, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Laura Barton, Protective Nick Fury, Red Room (Marvel), Strike Team Delta, Teen Angst, Through the Years, he's basically clint and nats dad, shes like 16 let her be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-04-23 07:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19146349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hclxs/pseuds/Hclxs
Summary: It was warm out and the sun was just beginning to set when he found her on the porch, sitting on the railing. She was curled into herself, a glass of lemonade was in front of her. "You okay?She shrugged in response, staying silent for a few long minutes before she spoke. "I don't think I want to be Natalia anymore."Clint nodded, leaning against the railing and watched her. "You can be anyone you want.""I think I want to be Natasha and just Natasha, not only Natasha when I have to be." She looked at him, watching for a reaction and smiled when he smiled.





	Strike Team Delta: Some (Usually A lot) Assembly Required

_Little did I know when I was reaching out_   
_To help you_   
_I was just as much in need of a rescue_   
_Tell me who saved who, now?_   
_Tell me who saved who, now?_

_Who Saved Who, Mindy Smith_

_**Grozny, Russia**_

_**March, 18th 2000** _

He stared at the girl, and that's what she was, a child. Not the grown, ruthless, emotionless, assassin who was on SHIELDs' radar and was listed as a possible global threat. This was a child with matted hair, cuts and bruises and scars, covered in blood, who was all of sixteen and eighty pounds and was gripping a knife like it was her lifeline. She staggered a bit and he noticed her eyes were glossy and unfocused, so he assumed she was probably drugged. 

What the hell?

His comm came to life as Coulson started speaking. "Barton? Barton, do you have eyes on the target?"

It took him a moment to respond and when he did the girl still hadn't moved. "Uh, yeah. I do." 

Did she want to die?

"Hey," He spoke lowering his bow. "I'm Agent Barton. What's your name?"

She glanced out at the city, it would be a nice view from the roof they were on if the situation was different. Her hand went to her left side and she took a small step back, favoring her right leg and he realized she was injured. 

"Do you speak English?" He asked, quickly taking his comm out when he heard Coulsons voice again. 

"You're supposed to kill me." Her accent was heavy and very obviously Russian, she thankfully spoke English. '

"Yeah," He agreed, nodding. He didn't want to lie to her and he knew she'd probably know it if he did.

"Why haven't you?" She seemed genuinely curious; it probably was confusing to her. Who didn't take the chance to kill the Black Widow?

"You're a child."

"I'm a soldier who honors her country." She shook her head. "I haven't been a child in a very long time. Kill me."

Clint shook his head, taking a small step toward the girl. "I'm not going to do that." He kept his voice steady but firm, trying to keep the upper hand. Did he even have it?

"Kill me," She stepped toward him this time, her voice didn't waver but it was laced with a demanding venom. "Do it!" She screamed at him as if the tone of her voice would make him kill her. 

Clint stared at her and stayed silent, unable to say anything before a ran after her as she turned and ran towards the building ledge. Clint stood frozen for a few seconds before chasing after her and grabbing her waist just as she jumped, pulling her back and into his body causing him to fall back and hit the pavement. She lax in his arms  and her breathing was heavy as she sunk back against him.

"Shit kid." He grumbled, standing up and pulling her with him. "Don't fucking do that again."

* * *

 

 

When Clint showed up at the quinjet with a kid behind him it was an understatement to say Coulson was shocked and it was an even bigger one when he learned said kid was the black widow, Fury of course was pissed that he thought it would be a good idea to bring a Russian assassin to SHIELD until Hill pointed out the correct term would probably be Russian  _child_ assassin which is how Clint ended up eating lunch outside a holding cell while they figured out what to do with her. 

He of course understood why she was in a holding cell but that didn't mean he had to like it. They didn't even know her name until they managed to hack into the Red Rooms files and they found a picture a her when she couldn't be no more than twelve but the red hair and green eyes gave way to who it was. 

Her name was Natalia and she was sixteen. Just thinking of her age made him want to vomit.

SHIELD psychologist and therapist said there was no telling what the Red Room did to her, what she went through in her short life and what kind of affect it would have on an undeveloped mind that only knew death, violence and trauma. There was no room for love, kindness or the kind of intimacy people needed. They also said she needed to be away from that life at least for a little while and Fury and Coulson both agreed she needed normalcy, so he called Laura and she, too, agreed that she needed something normal and told him to bring her home.

Which is how he ended up in a truck stop diner in a small town in Iowa on their  way to his slightly larger town in Iowa, ordering a burger and a coke for himself and a BLT and a coke for her with an order of cheese fries to split.  

 As most people did Natalia really liked the cheese fries. 

"I'm not a child." She spoke after he called her kid for what was probably the hundredth time. "I haven't been a child in a very long."

Clint sighed, putting down his half eaten burger before speaking. "Listen, you're sixteen which makes you a kid and I don't care what fucked up views the Red Room has."

Natalia was silent for a long child. "Once you enter you are no longer a child, age doesn't matter to them."

Clint watched her as she picked at the onion rings he ordered to go with her sandwich, he supposed she might not be hungry anymore. She at the entire BLT and he let her have most of the cheese fries. "How old were you?" He asked after a moment. 

She shrugged. "I don't remember anything about before, there was the Red Room and now there's not."

Clint nodded, staying silent. He didn't have much of a childhood but it was more than she did, at least he had some good memories but he was almost certain she didn't. "We'll be at my farm by dinner tomorrow if we leave early enough." He stood to go pay, leaving a five on the table and ordering a strawberry milkshake to go for himself. "What do you want?" He turned to Natalia who just shrugged. "Make that two and an order of cheese fries." She seemed to like those and it was only a little before six and they both skipped breakfast and lunch.

Once they got back to his car Clint put the to go box in the backseat and climbed in, handing her the milkshake. "It's yours." He encouraged when she hesitated, he put his in the cup holder.

"You don't have to do this." She spoke as he pulled out onto the road. "I can take care of myself and won't be a problem., you can let me go."

"Yeah," He glanced over at her as she took a small sip of the milkshake. "Well, my boss and his people wouldn't like that and even if they didn't care I still wouldn't do that. You don't have to take care of yourself. How's the milkshake?" He asked, changing the subject.

"I-" She hesitated again. "It's good, I've never had one before."

He looked over at her again, deciding he'd get her another one tomorrow.

It wasn't long before he decided to pull into a motel, there were only two other cars there, it looked cheap and it probably sucked but it'd do for the night. 

They walked up to the desk, both with their small bags in their hands. 

"Hey," Clint spoke gaining the attention of the young women at the desk, whos name tag said Mary in faded and messy writing. "Double beds?" 

Mary rose an eyebrow at them before tossing them a key and he handed over the cash. "Thanks." He nodded before walking towards the stairs, the room was on the second level and was the third one down.

The room was small and the wallpaper was an odd off white that looked stained from cigarette smoke, there was a window with a chair in front of it, a small closet and a desk in the corner and a chest of drawers with a TV on it.

"Can I take a shower?" Natalia asked when he sat down on one of the beds and flipped on the weather. 

Clint turned and looked at her, it was an odd thing to request especially for someone who was sixteen.  "Yeah," He nodded. "Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

She nodded before taking a few steps back towards the bathroom. "Yeah."

Natalia turned on the shower before undressing and stepping into the hot spray, she stood silent for a while, just breathing and taking in her new reality before opening the small bottle of shampoo.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been trying to get this out there for a while now but things just kept happening, I've seen a few fics involving Natashas early years but those are typically short and I've really been wanting to expand on that especially after Endgame. I'm not 100% sure how long this will be but it'll be long and I plan on doing separate smaller fics for this verse.
> 
> Series title comes from the song What Do You Love by Seeb.


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